Making sense (and, sometimes, nonsense) out of Current News, Issues, Politics

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

A Tale of Two Stories: Obama's Job Approval

Democrats were ecstatic that a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that Barack Obama left office with a 60% approval rating; placing him 4th behind Roosevelt, Clinton, and Reagan.

Similarly, the Gallup organization gave him a 59% approval rating at the end of his second term. However, in the "average" of polls over his two terms in office, the results were not as bright. On average, his rating was 47.9%, placing him 4th from the bottom with only Ford, Carter, and Truman having lower ratings.

I don't know why Barack Obama was able to lift his rating from below 50% before 2016 and then, in the last year, gain 10 percentage points. From a weak economy to violence on our streets and significant world disorder (especially in Syria), nothing saw a marked improvement to warrant that change. Certainly, the results of this year's elections, nation-wide, didn't reflect a strong approval for either Obama or his Democratic policies. If that were true, Hillary Clinton would be President.